1915: The U.S. National Center for Health Statistics reports 3,633 homicides and suicides in the United States. Of that number, 483 are inflicted by "cutting and piercing instruments."

1932: There are 975 reported homicides in Japan.

1995: According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are 20,220 murders in the United States this year. Datapedia of the U.S., 1790-2000 reports that in 1990, "accident" is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States, following heart disease, cancer and stroke.

1997: The Wall Street Journal ranks Tokyo, Japan, the safest city in the world in regard to "violent crime," including assault and murder; Kabul, Afghanistan is the least safe.

1921: The first year for which the Japan Statistical Yearbook has any data, there are 53 divorces per every 1,000 people in Japan, a rate of 0.94. In 1921, the total population of Japanese is 55,963,053.

1920: There are 1.6 divorces for every 1,000 people in the United States...